The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus equipped with a manual sheet-feeding device such as a copying machine and a printer each being equipped with a manual sheet-feeding device.
With regard to the image recording apparatus mentioned above, there have hitherto been known one wherein, from a sheet-feeding unit containing multiple recording sheets such as a sheet-feeding cassette, the recording sheet is fed out one sheet by one sheet to be subjected to steps of exposure, development and transfer in an image forming means so that a recorded image may be formed on the recording sheet, and one wherein a manual sheet-feeding device is provided so that the recording sheet may be fed manually one sheet by one sheet for forming a recorded image.
In the case of a sheet-feeding unit by means of the former sheet-feeding cassette, there has recently been employed a construction of a front-loading type for drawing out a sheet feeding cassette to the front which offers remarkable effects on the points of improvement in operation and a floor space for installation.
In the case of the latter manual sheet-feeding device, on the other hand, the manual sheet-feeding device is positioned horizontally or obliquely on the side or on the rear side of a main body of the image recording apparatus when viewed from an operator of the apparatus.
In the case of the manual sheet-feeding device mounted on the rear side of the image recording apparatus of a type of operating a sheet-feeding cassette on the front side, a manual sheet-feeding tray is protruded horizontally or obliquely at the lower portion on the rear side of a main body of the image recording apparatus. Therefore, a space for installing the sheet-feeding tray is required on the back side of the apparatus. Further, since the sheet-feeding tray is located at the lower portion on the rear side of the main body of the apparatus and an opening for insertion of a recording sheet is invisible, an operator is required to move to the rear side of the apparatus main body and to move a guide plate for the width of a recording sheet for setting recording sheets, which is troublesome and causes a risk of erroneous operations.
The first object of the invention is to solve the problems mentioned above, save the floor space for installation of an image recording apparatus equipped with a manual sheet-feeding device, improve operations for setting recording sheets in the case of manual sheet-feeding and thereby to prevent erroneous operations.
Because of a narrowed space for installation mentioned above, when foreign matters such as clips, pins, and staples fall from the opening for manual insertion in a sheet-traveling path, an image recording apparatus having a sheet-feeding tray mounted obliquely or vertically on the apparatus main body has had problems such as troubles caused by the foreign matters caught by sheet-feeding rollers in a manual sheet-feeding unit or in a sheet-feeding unit in an image recording apparatus. Or, the problems have been caused by the foreign matters staying in the sheet-traveling path to be troubles of defective recording sheet transport (jam). Further, it has been difficult to remove the aforementioned foreign matters fallen on a manual sheet-feeding device or in a sheet-feeding unit of an image recording apparatus.
The second object of the invention is to solve the problems mentioned above, eliminate the troubles caused by the entry of foreign matters in a manual sheet-feeding device and thereby to secure stable transport of recording sheets and prevent troubles of the apparatus.
When viewing from the other aspect of the invention, when a recording sheet is inserted into a sheet-inlet for manual insertion on the image recording apparatus mentioned above, a sensor detects the recording sheet and the detection information starts recording operations such as copying operations, then the inserted recording sheet is taken into the apparatus and ejected from an ejection outlet after image recording on the recording sheet, thus, the sheet-inlet for manual insertion has an advantage that it can be used for image recording on a sheet of a special size or a specific sheet which is difficult to be set in a sheet-feeding cassette or on a sheet-feeding stand. However, it has a problem that the production cost of an image recording apparatus equipped with a sheet-inlet for manual insertion is high due to a low production quantity caused by poor demand therefor, because it is troublesome to insert a recording sheet one by one.
The invention has been achieved for the purpose of solving the problems mentioned above, an its third object is to provide an image recording apparatus equipped with a sheet-inlet for manual insertion whose production cost can be reduced by the increase of its production quantity, an the sheet-inlet for manual insertion can be frequently used without any troublesome of manual insertion of a recording sheet.